User Reviews

"Das merkwürdige Kätzchen" or "The Strange Little Cat" is a German movie from three years ago written and directed by Swiss filmmaker Ramon Zürcher. Its indie status is confirmed by the fact that there are really no famous actors in the cast. I know very many semi-famous German actors, but I have never heard of any of the cast members here, which is very rarely the case when I watch a German film. And it's also not the case that Zürcher cast only Swiss actors for this one, the main roles at least are played by Germans. But maybe this is what caused many awards bodies to appreciate this work. I personally cannot agree with the awards attention though. I found this a very mediocre work. I know the filmmaker's intention probably goes against my title for this review. There was nothing crucial supposed to happen here for the most part. It was all about depicting life as it happens. But the bad thing is, this is not true either. Maybe it is somewhat true for the most part in terms of what the characters do, but not in terms of how they talk. The dialogues felt really pretentious and not like something anybody would say. It felt extremely scripted at times. One example would be the woman who talks about how she always wears a scarf in a cinema to avoid being stabbed to the neck from behind? That was weird. That also was not artistic, that was just awkward. All in all, i don't think this is anywhere near the best the year 2013 had to offer in terms of (German) film. A disappointing watch and I am glad that it was so short. This film does not even reach the 75-minute mark. And it is a good thing because it was not an interesting or compelling watch by any means. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

This film is really depressing. The family members all seem to resent each other and the grandmother is zonked out on psych meds. The mother seems as though she is about five seconds from going postal and blowing them all away.

There are some beautifully shot images, and I enjoyed the music and the wanderings of the cat, but the strained relations between the mother and everyone else in the film are difficult to watch. She is obviously miserable but feels trapped in her current situation. She slaps her young daughter for a small act of disobedience, but really the mother is lashing out at her life. This is why divorces happen. Or else the couple stays together and the children end up suffering as a result, as in this case.

The older children like to make banal observations and relay anecdotes devoid of any interest. The only joy to be found is introduced by the dinner guests who do not seem to be clinically depressed as does nearly everyone else in the film. All in all, this work is a major snoozefest.

Watch this film if you want to talk yourself out of getting married and having a family. Or maybe to practice your German?

An old hag takes out her personal demons on the hapless residents of a small town. There is so much wrong with this film it boggles the mind. The most notable errors are red herrings and smoking guns. Red herring majorly: the "rapist" scenes. What the? Who the? Smoking Gun majorly: the packet on the road after the explosion. Where the? Other major problems: crazy swearing in front of kids. What the? Sheriff never talked to her? What the? To make the point: cut out all footage of Willoughby. What is lost? Letters? One that even begets a "conversion"? Not going to continue on; others that think this is one huge overrated film have done the detail work justifying the observation. An old hag takes out her personal demons on the hapless residents of a small town and is lucky they don't kill her.